Engaging development data communities at Festival de Datos
This post was written by Annelise Parr, IATI Manager, Policy & Technology at UNDP.
The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSSD) held its Data for Development Festival in Punta del Este, Uruguay on 7–9 November, 2023. Festival de Datos was attended by hundreds of development data experts from leading organisations across the globe. The IATI Secretariat delivered a training workshop and attended a wide range of excellent and engaging sessions during the three days of the festival.
IATI Secretariat attendees: Cody Wallace, Annelise Parr and Simon Whitehouse
Opening Ceremony
The vibrant opening ceremony focused on the festival’s aims to empower development data communities, foster collaboration, and promote knowledge exchange. Speakers celebrated technological advancements and acknowledged challenges surrounding power dynamics and privacy concerns in the data revolution. Others emphasised the need for inclusive participation to deliver enhanced data to propel progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
IATI Training Workshop
On Day 2 of the three day event, IATI held a training session entitled: How to Unlock Timely, Transparent Development and Humanitarian data. Participants learned more about the IATI Standard and how to access IATI data published by more than 1600 organisations. The Secretariat introduced its data access tools d-portal and the Country Development Finance Data tool and shared some of its recent analysis on development and humanitarian financing.
Engaging development data experts and communities
Festival de Datos provided an excellent opportunity to meet other development data experts, organisations and initiatives and to exchange innovative ideas as well as some of the challenges shared by different data communities around the world.
One key learning from the event was the importance of designing data strategies that are consultative and inclusive, right from the outset.
IATI certainly hopes to foster the many new and existing connections made at the festival with a view to strengthening our own collaboration.
By having many data organisations under one roof, it was also clear that there were many overlapping data topics and themes that could be enhanced through greater collaboration between partners.
IATI certainly hopes to foster the many new and existing connections made at the festival with a view to strengthening our own collaboration.
IATI looks forward to working closely with the GPSDD over the coming year and welcomes the announcement that the next Data for Development Festival will be hosted by Kenya in 2025.